I had real reservations about efforts to expand the Supreme Court, right up to the moment when Trump and McConnell said they are rushing through Barrett’s nomination and confirmation to ensure a 5th vote to keep Trump in power. 1/

With a president and senate majority leader expressly putting somebody on it to throw the election, the Supreme Court cannot enjoy legitimacy in its current composition and structure. 2/

Even if Biden wins and Dems control the Senate, I don’t see them impeaching Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and, assuming she’s confirmed, Barrett, which would be one way to restore legitimacy to the court. So expanding the number of justices is the most realizable fix. 3/

Whether by removing justices who hold their seats due to a nakedly partisan power grab or by diluting those justices’ impact by expanding the court, the Supreme Court cannot fulfill its function until one or the other measure is taken. 4/

The loss of the Supreme Court’s legitimacy is not because Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett are too substantively conservative or overly prone to radically activist judging. The problem is that they cannot escape the circumstances of their appointments. 5/

Starting with Gorsuch, Mitch McConnell has openly railroaded through judicial appointments explicitly designated to keep the Republican Party in power. That, not conservatism, is his guiding principle. 6/

So whatever gets said in the Barrett hearings about Barrett is beside the point. Until the Supreme Court is rescued from its role as lapdog for one political party, no nominee’s confirmation hearings can serve an acceptable purpose. 7/7